1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to refrigeration systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for improving the thermal transfer between an evaporator of a refrigeration system, or air-conditioning system, and an environment surrounding the evaporator.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, the evaporator of a refrigeration system is typically positioned in a substantially closed environment for the purpose of removing thermal energy, or heat, from the environment. More particularly, the evaporator typically includes a coil, or a plurality of coils, which are configured and arranged to absorb heat from the surrounding environment and conduct the heat into a refrigerant passing through the coils. As is known in the art, the efficiency of the refrigeration system is largely dependent upon the rate and the amount of heat that is transferred from the environment surrounding the evaporator into the refrigerant.
In one embodiment, the substantially enclosed environment includes a room having electronic equipment, for example, operated therein. In operation, this equipment produces heat which, if not removed from the room, may shorten the useful life of the equipment. Accordingly, it is known to circulate the air in the room over the coils of a refrigeration system evaporator to cool the air passing thereover.
The rate of heat transfer into the evaporator coils is largely dependent upon the heat transfer coefficient between the evaporator coils and the air passing over the coils. The heat transfer coefficient is a function of many parameters, including whether the coils of the evaporator are wet from a liquid such as, e.g., water condensate. The heat transfer coefficient is increased, and thus the rate of heat transfer is increased, if the coils of the evaporator are wet. Placing a fluid on the coils of the evaporator will improve the rate of heat transfer between the evaporator and the surrounding air, however, the evaporator will, in part, cool the fluid instead of the air. This may reduce the efficiency of the system, and thus, placing a fluid on the evaporator is typically disincentivized.